In the recording, printing and plotting technologies, many applications are known in which the strip of paper or other medium leaving the recorder or printer-plotter travels at speeds ranging from as high as several inches per second to as low as only a few inches per hour, depending upon the speed required to provide adequate resolution of the data being presented. Particularly in the field of electrostatic printer-plotters, the tension applied to the paper as it moves through the machine is an important variable since improper tension can adversely affect the performance of the printer-plotter. In recognition of this problem, it has been known in the past to simply allow the paper leaving the printer-plotter to spew or fall into a catch basket or similar container from which it is subsequently removed, rather than to wind the paper by some means which might apply improper tension. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the problem of handling unwound or unfolded paper is considerable, especially when the paper is very wide, very long or both. In the prior art, various attempts have been made to control paper tension, such as the use of slip clutches and torque motors. While some degree of success has been achieved with these approaches, power consumption, stalled motors and clutch failure have been continuing problems. Another problem concerns the need in prior art systems to very precisely align the take-up mechanism with the recorder or other feed station, since misalignment causes uneven paper winding due to wandering of the paper on the take up roll. An efficient apparatus has been needed for winding the paper as it leaves the printer-plotter without at the time applying an improper tension to the paper which might affect printer-plotter performance. Moreover, means for avoiding the need for precise alignment have been in demand.